>
> > I see no grounds for me to claim exclusive beekeeping rights over
> property I don't have rights or an agreement to.
>

Seth, if it were the case that a landowner could keep his bees within his
property lines, then I'd see your point.  But that isn't the case.
Instead, this is a "Tragedy of the Commons" issue--if one isn't familiar
with this famous essay, it's freely available online.

What the hobby and commercial beekeepers in my county are facing is
competition from out-of-county large commercial beekeepers who only want
holding yards in which they can set hundreds of hives prior to or after
almond pollination, and feed them syrup to avert their starvation (they are
not interested in a honey crop).

There are only two towns in my County, but hundreds of hobbyists, and three
small commercial beekeepers.  All that it would take is for a single
out-of-towner to place a large drop of hives next to either of our towns,
and no hobby beekeeper would make a drop of honey.  So the question to the
bee and ag community is whether our local beekeepers had a "right" to the
common pasture of our county.

I presented first to our County's Agricultural Advisory Commission, which
was composed mostly of large ranchers/growers/landowners.  Before I got my
second sentence out, one said "this is a perfect example of the Tragedy of
the Commons."  At that point I knew that our proposal would be a soft sell.

We have the full support of the ag community, the hobby beekeepers, our Ag
Commissioner, and us commercial beekeepers.  Our goal is to come up with
self-imposed restrictions on commercial apiary spacing and hive numbers per
yard.  This is for the purpose of providing for the sustainability of hobby
and commercial beekeeping for the residents of our county, including any
out-of-county beekeepers who follow our rules--they are not singled out.


Randy Oliver
Grass Valley, CA
www.ScientificBeekeeping.com

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